The invention relates to a television receiver comprising, coupled to an output of an intermediate frequency signal path, a video signal detector of a type which detects with the aid of a reference signal and, coupled to an output of the intermediate frequency signal path, an asynchronous detector, an automatic gain control circuit being coupled to an output of these detectors and the asynchronous detector being made inoperative in the normal receiving mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,805 discloses a television receiver of the above mentioned type. Making the asynchronous detector inoperative in the normal receiving mode, when the video signal detector, which detects with the aid of the reference signal, provides the automatic gain control, is effected by keeping the normal amplitude of the intermediate frequency signal at the asynchronous detector sufficiently far below the threshold value of that asynchronous detector. The normal amplitude-threshold value ratio is then disadvantageous. A more advantageous ratio is not possible without entailing an unwanted operation of the asynchronous detector in the normal operating mode.